70-294 Down! One Design Exam...But Which One?

Agent6376

I passed 70-294 with a score of 746 this morning.

What I took from this exam is that it was more difficult than the others in that the other exams have three wrong answers and one right answer, whereas this exam has two, sometimes three "right" answers but only one of them is the Microsoft way of thinking. There are many different ways to design Active Directory, and people training for this exam should take a step back from what they already know about AD and really look into the way Microsoft considers correct.

I now have to decide to take 70-297 or 70-298. I'm not sure which one I'd rather take at the moment but I'm leaning towards 70-298. Any advice would be welcomed.

Thanks to the moderators for this site, and thanks to the contributors for the help that they lend.

Good Luck 70-294 takers!

dynamik

Congrats! This seems to be the one that's been tripping a lot of people up lately.

It's really up to you. If you're more comfortable with the security material from 291 and 293, do 298. If you're better with the AD stuff from 294, do 297. Keep in mind that 298 can be applied to both the Messaging and Security specializations while 297 can only be applied to Messaging.

snadam

congrats agent!!! Im starting to get a little more cautious with my studying in lieu of the recent horror stories...cheers!

my plan was to go for 298 after this, but it might change once I sit down and really compare the two.

Agent6376

298 then in a heartbeat. Active Directory drove me nuts

Agent6376

snadam wrote: »

congrats agent!!! Im starting to get a little more cautious with my studying in lieu of the recent horror stories...cheers!

my plan was to go for 298 after this, but it might change once I sit down and really compare the two.

That's a good thing. Honestly I thought I would have done much better than I did. Seemed like with all other exams I thought to myself that there's a chance I'd fail-and I passed with 850 or better each time.

This exam I finally felt confident and wanted to see a nice shiny score, only to see 746 (NOT to say that I'm complaining, it just took me for surprise.)

bwcarty

If you liked 291 and 294, 297 should be pretty easy. I took it last week after very little studying...mostly refreshers on DNS/WINS/DHCP and some lessons on NT4 migrations using Transcender as my primary study material. I didn't get the greatest score, but it was enough to pass first time.

298 is more flexible though.

Agent6376

bwcarty wrote: »

If you liked 291 and 294, 297 should be pretty easy. I took it last week after very little studying...mostly refreshers on DNS/WINS/DHCP and some lessons on NT4 migrations using Transcender as my primary study material. I didn't get the greatest score, but it was enough to pass first time.

298 is more flexible though.

I didn't like 294 at all. I think I'm going to go for 70-298 so I can opt for Security after my Messaging spec (if I'm not braindead from all these Microsoft exams by then)

Psoasman

Congrats on the pass. I am planning to take 298 after I pass the 294.

Tryntotechit

Congrats! I will hopefully be joining you soon. I felt fairly confident too. My transcenders were going great. However, my grade at the end didn't reflect my transcender scores. Oh well. I will get it!

snadam

Agent6376 wrote: »

That's a good thing. Honestly I thought I would have done much better than I did. Seemed like with all other exams I thought to myself that there's a chance I'd fail-and I passed with 850 or better each time.

This exam I finally felt confident and wanted to see a nice shiny score, only to see 746 (NOT to say that I'm complaining, it just took me for surprise.)

hehe, sounds like my 290 experience. Im thinking to push back my tentative exam date at this point. Ill have to see how I feel in 2 weeks time.

motogpman

Congrats on the pass!!! Hey, a pass is a pass. That should leave you with only 1 left for the MCSE, right?

Agent6376

From what I understand, A+/Net+ aren't supposed to count towards your MCSE, but they do (or they have for some people). Even if I don't manage to get the title after this next exam, I still plan on taking the two required Exchange exams to get my Messaging specialization.

After I get my MCSE:M, I'm thinking about going into CCNA before upgrading to MCITP:EA since I'd love to learn much more about networking and I'm getting kind of tired of MS exams at this point.

vti2003

Agent6376 wrote: »

I passed 70-294 with a score of 746 this morning.

What I took from this exam is that it was more difficult than the others in that the other exams have three wrong answers and one right answer, whereas this exam has two, sometimes three "right" answers but only one of them is the Microsoft way of thinking. There are many different ways to design Active Directory, and people training for this exam should take a step back from what they already know about AD and really look into the way Microsoft considers correct.

I now have to decide to take 70-297 or 70-298. I'm not sure which one I'd rather take at the moment but I'm leaning towards 70-298. Any advice would be welcomed.

Thanks to the moderators for this site, and thanks to the contributors for the help that they lend.

Good Luck 70-294 takers!

Hi Agent6376,

A newbie in this forum. Just wanna ask how do u start preparing or studying this exam to pass? I am taking in a week's time.

Agent6376

Hey vti2003,

I'm lucky enough to get my hands on both the Testout and CBT nuggets software. I set a realistic timeline of when I believe I'll be ready for the exam-based on going through the introduction to the course. From there, I set my date in mind and buy my voucher.

I go through Testout first and really grab the basics of what's needed, then I follow up with CBT nuggets to go a bit more in-depth into the topics and if I feel like I need work on a particular area, I'll review the topics. Once I feel like I understand the information well enough-I go into test prep mode and work out my Transcenders.

I focus on doing the best I can on the practice exams before I've memorized the questions. If you run into mindblocks along the way, you're not alone. You can come on the forums and ask for help. Most of the people you'll find on here have been in your situation and they are more than willing to help.

Good luck with your exams!

vti2003

Agent6376 wrote: »

Hey vti2003,

I'm lucky enough to get my hands on both the Testout and CBT nuggets software. I set a realistic timeline of when I believe I'll be ready for the exam-based on going through the introduction to the course. From there, I set my date in mind and buy my voucher.

I go through Testout first and really grab the basics of what's needed, then I follow up with CBT nuggets to go a bit more in-depth into the topics and if I feel like I need work on a particular area, I'll review the topics. Once I feel like I understand the information well enough-I go into test prep mode and work out my Transcenders.

I focus on doing the best I can on the practice exams before I've memorized the questions. If you run into mindblocks along the way, you're not alone. You can come on the forums and ask for help. Most of the people you'll find on here have been in your situation and they are more than willing to help.

Good luck with your exams!

hi Agent6376,
Thanks for the quick reply. 1st time i encounter forum guys replying so fast to qs being post. Previously i was using another forum but the forum is like desserted no one reply for a long time until i found out this forum.
okie, back to the topic, i am not using testout but i am using another format in v.c.e kind. I understand these exam has 2 to 3 sims right